Field of the Invention
This invention relates to keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) switches, and in particular, it relates to a KVM switch and its operation method.
Description of the Related Art
Typically, a conventional KVM switch is coupled between peripheral devices and controlled computers. When the KVM switch is operating in a bypass mode, if it receives a signal from a peripheral device, the KVM switch does not alter the signals from the peripheral device; rather, it directly forwards the signal from the peripheral device to the controlled computer.
When the peripheral device is a keyboard, when a hotkey mode of the KVM switch is initiated, the user can operate predefined hotkeys on the keyboard (such as the Enter key or the Esc key) to control various functions of the KVM switch (such as switching the KVM switch to different controlled computers).
However, when the KVM switch is operating in the bypass mode, the hotkey data from the peripheral device (such as the Enter key, the Esc key value, or a number key value) will be forwarded by the KVM switch directly to the controlled computer. Because some of the hotkey data (such as the Enter key, the Esc key value, or a number key value) can have certain adverse effects on the controlled computer (for example, in a word processing program, these key values may cause the cursor to automatically move to the next line or automatically exits an application program's interface image), such effects may seriously interfere with the normal operation of the controlled computer, causing inconvenience and confusion for the user.